Connection devices (generally, connectors) comprising a pair of manually actuatable quick couplings (in the following also referred to as quick couplers) of the female type are known in the field of hydraulic and/or pneumatic connections.
Among the known solutions, document U.S. Pat. No. 6,016,835 A shows how to make a connector comprehensive of a female coupler inserted into a containment body and actuatable by the user by means of a lever and a camshaft.
A further solution is known from document U.S. Pat. No. 7,568,502 B2, which shows, in particular, the possibility of relieving the pressure inside the couplers of the female type before and/or during the coupling of the male with the female by means of a lever actuation actuatable by the user. In such known solution, the actuation lever acts on a cam having two ends, each of said ends being adapted to contact a female coupler, said cam being adapted to rotate with respect to a central shaft on which it is hinged. This movement of the cam is obtained by means of the use of stop members movable with respect to the containment body of the connector, so that the cam abuts against said stop member when the coupler is in the coupling position, thus opening the pressure relief valve of the coupler of the female type.
The connector known from the prior art document U.S. Pat. No. 7,568,502 B2 therefore suitably provides a stop member distinct from the cam and from the containment body of the connector. In particular, the operation of the connector provides that, in case of a movement of the lever by the operator, the movement of the lever results in a rotation of the cam which, rotating, actuates the pressure relief valve of one of the two female couplers depending on one and, respectively, the other, depending on the direction of rotation of the cam and therefore on the direction of the movement of the lever.
Furthermore, when the female coupler is in the coupling position with a male coupler, the corresponding stop member keeps the pressure relief valve open: the cam may move away from the female coupler without causing the closing of the decompression valve.
By virtue of this expedient, the operator may operate on the lever so as to move the first end of the cam away from the first coupler and draw the second end of the cam near the second coupler to actuate the decompression valve of the second coupler without the valve of the first coupler closing.
At the second coupler, interposed between said second coupler and the containment body of the device, a corresponding second stop member for the second coupler is provided.
The operator, acting on the lever, pushes the second end of the cam in abutment with the second female coupler, causing the opening of the decompression valve and, therefore, allowing the coupling of the female coupler with a corresponding male coupler.
Once both couplers are coupled, the operator lets the cam, and therefore the actuation lever, return to neutral position, the decompression valves of the female couplers being kept open by the stop members.
The connector of U.S. Pat. No. 7,568,502 B2, therefore, allows, with respect to other background art solutions, to actuate the female couplers individually. The operator may, by acting on the actuation lever, selectively operate on a coupler at a time, both in the coupling and the decoupling steps.
However, the known solutions briefly summarized above, although valuable from different points of view (in particular, reliability), have drawbacks and/or disadvantages that the present invention aims at overcoming or at least minimizing.
For example, the connector known from document U.S. Pat. No. 7,568,502 B2, while allowing the independent actuation of the two couplers, involves considerable practical assembly difficulties, which make the production process of the device long, with a consequent negative impact on production costs.
In fact, the fact that the couplers actuation cam is made in one piece necessarily entails inserting the same into the block or main containment body (in which the two female couplers are housed) through a front opening to be provided in the containment body, which shall then be closed once the cam has been connected to the rotatable shaft actuated by the lever and on which said cam shall be hinged.
The need to provide an opening on the containment body involves various contraindications.
In fact, the containment body is made in a single block so as to ensure, when operating, the seal required for the fluid operating pressures; an opening to be closed once the assembly is completed is still less reliable from the point of view of the seal, where leakages and/or similar drawbacks may arise and/or follow during operating life.
Furthermore, the cam insertion window, as well as complicating the production process of the device, in particular the process for obtaining the containment body which shall be suitably worked to provide such opening, the presence of such opening at the cam, i.e., at the collecting channel of the pressurized fluid which is relieved by means of the stem valves of the female couplers, may compromise the functionality, reliability and safety of the block itself.
It is therefore a goal of the present invention to overcome or at least minimize the drawbacks observed in the connectors in accordance with the background art. In particular, it is a first object of the present invention to provide a connector, in particular of the multi-coupler type with lever actuation, the configuration thereof resulting in simplified assembly procedures and therefore in low assembly and production costs.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a connector of the aforesaid type in which the housing body of the couplers and related actuation means (cams and leverages) does not comprise an assembly window to be closed once the assembly is competed, but is rather made in a single piece, for example by means of fusing.
Finally, it is a further object of the present invention to provide a connector in which the actuation cams of the couplers are insertable into the main housing body and are boundable to the relative rotation shaft through the seats intended to house the two respective couplers.